Surviving
by KeganHorse
Summary: Sakura proves that she can span the twenty paces Naruto and Sasuke always kept between them and her.


Hi! So, I was awake for about 24 hours the other day due to my new medication, so at about 6 a.m. and hour 23, I decided to write a little bit. It was inspired by a post on tumblr, where Sakura had to die in order for Sasuke to realize his full potential. It is unpolished and the product of a slightly delirious mind, but tumblr seemed to like it, so I hope you will as well!

Enjoy and remember, I don't own Naruto. Or much of anything, really :

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She couldn't move. The sheer presence of Kaguya alone was enough to intimidate her body into complete submission. She tried to flex her left hand, feel the comforting tightness of the leather as it stretched against her knuckles. She couldn't even manage that.

Next to her, Sakura could tell that Kakashi was in much the same state. They wouldn't last long at all if Kaguya were to set her sight on them.

But she didn't. Her attention was still solely focused on the two boys before her, attacking her relentlessly. It wasn't enough. Sakura could see by the way Naruto's light dimmed and his face formed into a scowl reminiscent of Sasuke. In turn, Sasuke's speed had fallen and his rinnegan had begun a slow, steady leaking of blood.

This was the end, she was certain.

Surviving against Pain and Obito and Madara, all of that was by the skin of her teeth and only possible thanks to her teammates. The same teammates who were quickly being overpowered by the bored and callous goddess who had come to end the world she was responsible for.

Kakashi grunted beside her as he dropped to one knee, exhaustion threatening to overtake the older man. She took a moment to study him. He looked exactly the same as he had the first time she met him, ruggedly handsome even despite his facial mask and white hair. She almost wished he still had the sharingan, though. Both his eyes, dark and wide and bared for the world to see, reflected the pain and anguish he must have been hiding all these years under the cover of his hitai-ate.

She heard a sharp curse and the sound of rubble flying. She turned her head just in time to see Naruto careening through the air, Kaguya seeming to have had enough. She heard the sickening crunch of Naruto hitting the ground over a hundred yards away and gave an involuntary cry. If this had been a movie, her small noise would have drawn the wrath of the evil goddess, but in reality Kaguya was only interested in the big players. Having dispatched the sun, she bared down on the man who threatened her claim over the moon.

"No," Sakura croaked, barely able to get the words past her mouth. She could see it. Somehow she knew exactly what was going to happen even though Kaguya had yet to take a single step towards him. Sasuke's stamina was gone, and no matter what he would never be able to dodge the blow.

It had taken a long time to become who she was now, who she wanted to be. Every time she had managed to take one step forward, Sasuke and Naruto would run twenty paces ahead of her. But that wasn't so far now, was it? And that was exactly where she needed to be, twenty feet in front of her, shielding the only man she would ever love from the deadly strike. So that was where she went.

It didn't hurt. All the medical training she had received from Konoha had warned her about painless wounds – they were more often than not critical. However, she couldn't help it when in the back of her mind she repeated over and over to herself that it must have missed. She must have failed and Sasuke had been killed after all.

Her head lolled to the side and planted her face roughly into the course material of Sasuke's shirt. She heard the deafening scream tear from Naruto's throat, but couldn't see a thing beyond white cotton. She felt her shoulders being jostled so roughly that a giggle burst from her lips. How could his grip be the only thing she could feel when she was certain she had a hole in her chest?

"Sakura," his voice was rough and husky with exhaustion and fear. He shook her again, saying her name twice more before she could find the strength to turn her head and peer up at him from where she lay in his lap.

"Sasuke-kun," she said slowly, forcing the words through her throat and past the hot blood that was dribbling down her chin. She had the brief thought that she must look like a drooling idiot, salivating over the gorgeous Uchiha the way she had when they were younger.

"Sakura," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "Why did you do that."

"What?" Her voice slurred, never quite finishing the word. Her vision began to blur, colors running together in a beautiful midnight sky of black and purple with the faint red sunset still bleeding along the horizon. It was so beautiful, she wished Sai would paint it for her.

"Why," his voice cracked again and she felt his grip tighten, felt his other hand cradle her head as her neck failed to support its weight any longer. "Why did you get in the way? I told you not to. I told you…" Sasuke continued to repeat his words, each utterance become less and less coherent to Sakura.

With the last ounce of strength she could muster, Sakura raised her leaden arms and pulled the glove off her left hand, curling her fingers slightly as she rested them against his cheek. She focused the tiny amount of Chakra within her body to her eyes, sharpening her vision just enough to see his face one last time.

"Sasu," she tried, willing her tongue to work for just a few moments longer. "Sasu…kun."

She felt his fingers trace her cheeks and wondered if there were tears beneath his fingers. She hadn't wanted to cry in front of him.

"Sasu-kun, I'm sorry," she could barely hear her own voice, but she had to say it. There would be no more chances. "I love you, Sasu," In her foggy mind she wasn't sure if she was crying too hard to finish his name or if it was a side effect of dying that she lost control of her voice. "I will love you forever."

She felt her hand drop, heard Sasuke scream her name once more and shake her harder than ever before but it was too late. She was already gone. The last thing that passed through her mind was that Sasu would have been a cute nickname for him, and how when she said she would love him forever, she meant it. Her love would not die with her body.

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So, how was it? Leave a review and let me know! I might do a little more with this, but as it stands now, it is a one-shot.

Btw, below is the link to the theory someone posted. It is a pretty interesting read. Just get rid of the parenthesis I added that look suspiciously like tublr is motor-boating a pair of boobies...

post/81515897855/theory-sakura-is-going-to-die-im-sorry-this-is-so


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